Monday, June 28, 2010

A shameless nerd and lover of snark, Karen lives in Olympia, Washington, where she is a senior studying linguistics, literature, and computer science at The Evergreen State College. She ripped off her hometown of Snohomish, WA for the fictional locale of Klikamuks, where Other takes place. When she’s not at her computer, writing, she’s probably out in the forest with her notebook, writing, or on a photography expedition with her trusty digital camera. She likes to imagine werewolves lurking among the trees. (source)

Karen’s first novel Other is about to hit the shelves (July 1st, 2010) and I am really happy to have 2 copies of her book to giveaway! Her story is very original, and reading the following description I am sure you will agree!

I can’t last much longer. It’s been one week, three days, and I forget how many hours.

My belly cramps, and I curl on my bed, staring out at the stars. A delicious breeze glides through my window and cools my sweaty forehead. The air smells of summer–mowed grass, recent rain, lingering barbecue–and tempts me more than I want to admit. Shards of moonlight and shadow shift on the wall. I clench my teeth and toes and try to ride out the pain. My bedroom drifts counterclockwise, and I shut my eyes.

It can’t be good for me, not shapeshifting.

Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka, to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of Klikamuks, Washington. As if this isn’t bad enough, Gwen’s on the brink of revealing her true identity to her long-time boyfriend, Zack, but she’s scared he’ll lump her with the likes of bloodthirsty vampires and feral werewolves.

When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate–into murder. It soon becomes clear a serial killer is methodically slaying Others. The police turn a blind eye, leaving Gwen to find the killer before the killer finds her. As she hunts for clues, she uncovers more Others living nearby than she ever expected. Like Tavian, a sexy Japanese fox-spirit who rivals Zack and challenges her to embrace her Otherness. Gwen must struggle with her own conflicted identity, learn who she can trust, and–most importantly–stay alive. (source)

Now I can see all your confused eyes looking at the computer screen...

Also known as, “What the bleep is a pooka?”, which may be the reaction of certain people. Anyway. A pooka is, in a nutshell, a shapeshifting spirit of the faerie family from Wales or Ireland. Most commonly, they appear in the form of a shaggy black horse with sulfurous yellow eyes. A pooka’s yellow eyes always give it away, even in human form. Gwen, being half-pooka, can pass her eyes off as hazel, though they glow when she gets excited. Pookas are tricksters who love waylaying innocents, according to lore, though that may just be human propaganda. Pookas also go by the name puca, phouka, pwca, and many other spelling variants.

Now that we all have a better idea what Other is about, Let’s talk giveaway details!

This book sounds like fun. I wasn't terribly interested in the description until I came to half pooka. Now there's a mythical creature I haven't seen in a while! I'd love to see how this is pulled off.